Well, here is the end of Section I. Sort of like when you read a long book and it splits it up into different 'books'. Like the bible. Anyway, enjoy. [b] Part Fifteen - Truth[/b] Sorran was roused from his fitful slumber as he heard a crash in the lower chambers. And this wasn't the 'I knocked a plate to the floor whilst preparing a meal' kind of crash. This was the clear smash of glass. The newly made Honour Guard rose from his floating bed; which was the most comfortable thing he had ever slept upon. Indeed, everything in the Minister of Restraint's quarters was lavish and expensive. Sorran thought back to the day's events as he shook his tiredness away, and gently lowered the ceremonial headpiece the Honour Guard wore onto his suddenly sweating crown. There had been no trouble in escaping the dungeons of High Charity. As Sorran had passed his flash-clone, he had felt a slight shudder. But he was safe, and in Restraint's quarters, as one of his two Honour Guard. That a Minister, especially one who used to be one of the Hierarchy, would have but two Honour Guards was incredibly strange. When Sorran had questioned the elderly Prophet about it over dinner, Restraint had ambiguously said that he trusted few, and that's why he still lived. The other Honour Guard, a rather elderly Sangheili by the name of Hem, had been with Restraint since the beginning. His family and Restraint's had long worked together, and the new generation had been no different. He had his own quarters in the High Charity upper district, and had retired there for the night, warning Sorran as he had left to 'be careful.' [i]Was this what Hem had meant when he said that?[/i] Sorran thought as he grabbed his Energy Stave from the wall. The Stave responded to his will, and sparked, bathing the dim room he slept in in a soft blue glow. Sorran had had so many questions for Restraint, but the Minister had merely smiled a crooked smile and had shaken his head, saying that Sorran would learn with time. Once Restraint was 100% sure of his motives. In other words, once Sorran was trusted by the Minister he served. There were further noises down below, and a sinking feeling rose in Sorran's gut. It could have been Jajab, the serving Unggoy, but Sorran doubted it. The small Unggoy, Restraint had informed Sorran, never awoke once he retired for the night. Indeed, it was a daily ritual for the Minister to have to rouse Jajab from his own slumber each dawn. Sorran secured the shoulder pads he wore, and pressed down on a panel by his door. The mechanical door fled into the frame it was set in, and the new Honour Guard walked out into the candle lit hallway. Sorran gave thought to waking Restraint, but decided against it. If some burglar [i]was[/i] in the house, then better it would be if the elderly Prophet remained asleep. Another bang below. Whoever it was obviously wasn't well versed in the art of stealth. Either that or the intruder wanted someone to come looking for him. Well, Sorran would be happy to oblige. The Honour Guard stepped into the gravity lift, and slowly fell down two stories, to the ground level. He looked around; no obvious signs of trouble. However, upon close examination of the door, he saw where metal had obviously been cut, and welded back together once whoever was intruding was inside. Interesting, whoever it was obviously knew the trade. Sorran moved into the dining chamber, looking around the dim room. No one in sight, bar the Huragok [i]Floats lower than most.[/i], who assisted Restraint with his hobby of examining Forerunner artefacts the Ministry had deemed useless. Just as he was about to leave though, Sorran saw something out of place. A stack of documents which had previously been in a neat pile were now askew, spread all over the table. One looked to have half the page missing. Sorran moved forward, and lifted up the light parchment. The ink was faded, and blotched in some places. The page seemed to be a series of notes and thoughts. The bottom ones seemed menial enough. However, half of the middle one was visible, where the page had been nearly torn. Still, it was nearly unreadable, bar a few fragments, such as what seemed to be 'Regret', 'Journey', 'False Writ.' How odd. As Sorran was still trying to make out the other words, he heard a rustle behind him. Ever so slight, as if a feather had been brushed amongst a pile of leaves, making the smallest of small sounds. Almost small enough to disregard. However, Sorran was suspicious enough to spin around suddenly... ...A good decision, as it became apparent when Sorran's moving stave crashed into a small, blue object. The Energy Stave's shields flickered slightly. Sorran's eyes widened as he saw what he had struck. A small plasma knife, a burning blue cutting through the sanguine night. The knife bounced of Sorran's stave, and the Honour Guard quickly jumped back, out of reach of any further attacks. He looked closely at the assailant. It seemed to be a Kig-Yar, garbed in tight robes the colour of the darkest of dark nights. The avian like creature had it's head covered by a hood, shrouding all but it's sharp beak in shadow. It screeched in it's native language. Sorran recognised it as a Kig-Yar curse word from their pirating days. For a few moments, the Sangheili Honour Guard and Kig-Yar Assassin circled each other wearily. A slight shimmering across the face of the Assassin informed Sorran that the Kig-Yar did indeed possess personal shielding. Sorran hadn't even known such technology existed. He wasn't allowed much respite however, for at that moment the Jackal brought out from it's person a crystalline pink whip, which hung limply at it's side. The seven shards which made up the whip crackled with power. It was all Sorran could do to dive out of the way before the whip flew in his direction. As it was, he got lucky, and instead the foremost shard of the whip embedded itself in an ancient bookcase. After a second, the shard exploded, shattering the bookcase and it's containments into a million shards. As the shards flew through the air, Sorran vaulted over the table, and delivered a strong blow with his stave to the startled Kig-Yar, who reeled backwards, before somehow managing to land on it's feet nimbly. It suddenly lashed out with the whip, and Sorran narrowly avoided the deadly string of shards, throwing himself to the floor. He brought his stave around in a low arc, knocking the Assassin's feet from underneath it. The Jackal collapsed to the ground with a thud, it's whip falling limply to the side. Before the creature could right itself, Sorran pounced on it, grabbing the Assassin around the neck. He lifted the frail Jackal into the air with a thick, vice like grip on it's small windpipe. With his other hand, Sorran threw back the Kig-Yar's hood, and staring at him were a pair of frantic, buggy eyes. The Assassin attempted desperately to break free of Sorran's grip, managing to bury one of it's throwing knives into the Honour Guard's side. Sorran persisted though, and kept a tight hold. The Jackal's face began to lose it's colour, eyeballs wide, mouth trying to draw air in which didn't have the chance to travel down to it's lungs. After a few more seconds, the Assassin went limp. A quick read of it's pulse told Sorran that he had perhaps gone a little too far. The Kig-Yar was dead. With disgust, he let the corpse fall to the floor. Sorran stood there, breathing deeply. He remained alert; for all he knew there could be several other Jackals in the house. After it became apparent that if there were any, then they had fled, the Honour Guard began to search the Jackal's corpse. He eventually found a scrap of parchment. Complex runes decorated the header. Sorran decoded them and saw what the parchment was: a hit list. And listed below, in ink the colour of Jackal blood, was a single name. Restraint. It was then that Sorran heard a noise behind him, and he spun, anticipating another brawl. Instead, he only saw the Minister of Restraint, wearing a satisfied grimace. Sorran noted with surprise that the Minister was supported by only a wooden cane, rather than the chair the Honour Guard had been led to believe was needed. "You have done well Sorran." Restraint croaked, nudging the Assassin gently with the edge of a boot. The Jackal rolled over, it's lifeless eyes staring into the ceiling above. Sorran frowned. "Well done? Was this your idea of a test?" the Sangheili asked, and he could hear the anger in his own voice. The Prophet reeled around, scowling. "Don't be a fool!" Restraint barked, and then, noting Sorran's sheepish expression, softened slightly, "this was no test." "Then what--?" Sorran began to question, stepping forward. He was cut off by Restraint. "This was an Assassin, and no inefficient one at that. This Kig-Yar bears the symbol of the [i]Shadow of Relic.[/i] Have you heard of them, Sorran?" Indeed he had, or at least he had heard the rumours. Effectively an Assassins cult, one of the most efficient and deadly there was. They took members of every species, although the Kig-Yar were the most predominant; they had a history of espionage and murder. Sorran merely nodded before asking his next question. "Why was one of the Relic attempting to kill you, noble one?" Sorran questioned of the Prophet, who sighed. "Dispose of this body, and meet me in the lounge. I shall reveal to you the truth. You won't like it, you won't believe it. But it is the truth." Restraint told him, and the Sangheili Honour Guard nodded slowly, frowning in confusion. Still, he had an order, and so hefted up the dead Assassin, and prepared to burn the body. [Edited on 11.16.2009 4:03 PM PST]